Green Jiminy

The Jiminy Peak Resort Management and Employees are committed to being responsible stewards of Massachusetts' natural resources. Massachusetts' beauty and health are an integral part of our business. We live here so working to maintain it comes naturally.

About Green Jiminy

Jiminy's policy of environmental awareness is seen in all of our activities. We seek to raise the environmental awareness of guests and employees, and to broaden their knowledge and appreciation through educational programs along with our active and passive use of the land for year-round recreation.

Our development and maintenance programs are guided by principles of land and energy conservation, by forest and wildlife habitat preservation and by maintaining Massachusetts' water quality and aesthetic beauty.

In 2008 Jiminy Peak was awarded the Golden Eagle Award by Clif Bar and the National Ski Areas Association Overall Environmental Excellence for the construction of Zephyr.

Jiminy Peak strongly believes in preserving the Earth for future generations. We are showing our commitment by being the first Mountain Resort in North America to install a wind turbine in order to generate clean, natural energy. Together we can shape a sustainable community for the future.

Wind Turbine FAQ

General Turbine Information- facts/figures about the turbine:

Zephyr, Jiminy's 1.5MW wind turbine, provides approximately 33% of the electrical demands of Jiminy Peak annually. During the winter months, when the wind resource is the strongest, it may provide as much as half of our electrical demand.

The turbine generates approximately 4,600,000 kWh each year of which, Jiminy Peak uses about half.

The wind turbine sits atop a 253 ft tower.

The nacelle that sits on top of the structure and houses the shaft for the blades, the gearbox and the generator is approximately 13 ft wide and 13 ft tall and 26 ft long.

Each of the 3 blades is approximately 123ft, therefore to the tip of the blade the entire structure is 386 feet tall.

The blades turn a maximum of 22 RPM even in high wind conditions.

The installed turbine price was approximately $4 million.

Jiminy received a renewable energy grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative for $582,000, which was used for all of the design and purchase of the turbine. Jiminy also receives federal tax rebates and Renewable Energy Credits to help afford the project. Payback will take approximately 7-8 years.

Producing 4,600,000 kWh annually offsets the emissions of conventional power plants. The Jiminy wind turbine will offset the emissions of:

7,100,000 pounds of CO2 (a greenhouse gas)

33,000 pounds of SOx (a leading contributor to smog and the chief cause of acid rain)

10,000 pounds of NOx (a leading component to smog and a cause of asthma)

This amount of electricity is also equivalent to:

Driving 75,000,000 fewer miles in a conventional automobile each year the wind turbine is in operation

Planting 83,000 new trees.

The turbine helps to protect the long-term viability of Jiminy Peak as a resort and therefore helps to assure jobs better than being at the risk of changes in power prices.

Perhaps more importantly is the impact of this wind turbine on our generation’s grandchildren and great grandchildren in a country where we have too much dependency on fossil fuel for energy.

When the turbine is running at full capacity one would measure about 60 decibels at the bottom of the tower. Sound attenuates as one moves away from the source so at about 200 yards, the sound level would be less than 30 decibels which is equivalent to a quiet whisper.

Permitting Process

Since the Jiminy Peak wind project did not appear to meet or exceed any MEPA review thresholds the project team filed a Voluntary Environmental Notification Form.

We retained a group of knowledgeable, experienced people on environmental and wind turbine issues in order to analyze and understand every aspect of the environmental impacts this project may have.

We do not anticipate that there would be significant impact to any plant or wildlife that exists at Jiminy Peak, and do not expect the project to interact with any endangered species.

The wind project at Jiminy Peak will have little to no impact on local impacts on avian and other wildlife species. We are mitigating our potential impacts by using previously disturbed ground for the project’s location and transportation routes.

The potential impact wind power can have on avian life is often due to cutting off large areas of migratory flyways with strings of wind turbines or wind farms. A single wind turbine at Jiminy Peak should have very little impact on such a flyway. We performed a Phase 1 avian impact assessment to ensure that this project would not have an affect on local or migrating avian species.

The turbine is designed to shut down during icing conditions, and the machine will not restart until the ice has melted off the tower and blades.

Wind turbines have a 30-50 year design life. However, electrical and structural components, including the tower, foundation, and interconnection equipment have a far longer design life. Jiminy expects that at the end of the useful life of the wind turbine and blades, it will re-power the equipment using the same tower and electrical components but replacing the generator with a new and more efficient unit.

If an unforeseen circumstance arises and the wind turbine needs to be removed from Jiminy Peak, the wind turbine would be removed with a crane, the foundation would be removed to a minimum of 1ft below grade and any impacted soils would be re-vegetated.

Jiminy is proceeded cautiously with its first wind turbine. This wind turbine was designed to provide approximately 1/3 of the total electrical needs of the resort. If the first project is successful, a second machine may be considered on the eastern side of the resorts property. Jiminy has no interest in a commercial wind farm on its ridge. Any wind power at Jiminy will be used solely to reduce the electric bills of the resort and lesser the reliance on fossil fuels.

Reduction in Electricity Consumed From Grid

What consumption would be today without conservation efforts

9,404,289 kWh

Energy consumption reduction from conservation

-2,342,668 kWh

Electricity consumed twelve months ending September 30, 2006

7,061,621 kWh

Energy generated to Jiminy from Zephyr

- 2,300,000 kWh

Future net energy consumed from the grid

4,761,621 kWh

Percentage reduction off the grid due to conservation efforts and wind turbine 49.4%

*Additional energy produced by the turbine will go out into the grid. As of August 12, 2009, Zephyr has produced 8.16 Million kWh of energy!

Electrical Energy Conservation

Country Inn (1997-2003)

Convert 1200 feet of hallway lights, and 5 stair towers that operate 24/7, to compact fluorescent lights in order to be more efficient where lighting is required around the clock.

Annual Savings: 151,754 kWh

Snowmaking (1997 - present)

New technology improves energy efficiency for snowmaking by converting to primarily external mix guns. The newest version is an LP3, which cuts air consumption in half at 19 degrees wet bulb. It took 6,523 kWh in 1998 to convert 180,000 gallons of water (equal to an acre foot of snow) into snow. In 2006 it took 3,804 kWh to convert 180,000 gallons into snow for an acre foot. Jiminy averages 700 acre feet of snow per winter. 9 years ago the system's old technology would have required 4,566,100 kWh versus 2,661,400 today. The annual savings is 41.7% in energy.

Annual Savings: 1,903,300 kWh

Village Center (2001-2004)

Convert 24 hour lighting in hallways and public spaces to compact fluorescents.

Annual Savings: 26,909 kWh

Resort Wide Miscellaneous Reduction (2001-present)

Signage lighting retro fit to LED. Replacing thermostats with secure programmable thermostats to control heat and cool. Estimated conversions reduce oil and propane burners as well as electric heat total 100,000 kWh.

Annual Savings: 80,600 kWh

Utilizing Snowmaking Compressors Excess Heat Used for Village Center (2002)

Capturing heat from compressors during 800 hours of operation in the winter. Reduces propane and electricity requirements. Using the heat from 2 compressors to heat 34,000 square feet of space in 3 Village Center buildings avoids the need of an equivalent of 63,800 kWh.

Annual Savings: 63,800 kWh

Slope Lighting (2003)

Replacement of 1,000 watt bulbs to 400 watt high efficiency bulbs on 5 trails. The lights have the ability to go to 1/2 wattage when used during snowmaking - a winter benefit only.

Annual Savings: 53,505 kWh

JJ's Lodge (2005)

High efficiency motors for heating and cooling, energy conserving kitchen exhaust hoods, use of water cooled towers to reduce conventional air conditioning needs uses chilled water to assist in cooling buildings. A model building for energy savings.

Annual Savings: 60,000 kWh

Total Savings per Year: 2,341,268 kWh

Sustainable Environmental Initiatives

Slope Improvements Processes (1985 – Present)

Consistently striving to control storm water to protect water quality in the streams. Erosion control measures, silt fence, hay bales. Using quick growing seed and mulching the disturbed areas immediately after fine grading. Using a phased approach to slope construction. Where ever possible, protecting and avoiding any repairion zones.

Recycle Used Motor Oil For Heating Usage (1986)

Taking waste oil from snowmaking compressors, grooming machines and all vehicles to heat Mountain Operations building using approximately 400 gallons of waste oil per year. This process avoids disposal needs of old oil and eliminates the need for consumption of new fossil fuel from the Earth.

Kinderhook Reservoir (1993)

Obtained a permit and began construction of the 6 million gallon Kinderhook Reservoir for protection of Trout Habitat in Kinderhook Creek. Water is taken from the Creek only at high flow times and stored in the reservoir for use during the low Creek flow periods. This commitment protects trout eggs in the gravel along shallow stream edges that would freeze in low flow due to extended extreme cold snaps.

National Silver Eagle Award (1994)

Construction of Summit Reservoir (1996-1998 )

Summit Reservoir stores 12 million gallons of water near the top of the mountain. Two major benefits of the summit reservoir are

Water can be pumped and stored during high stream flow periods and warm weather therefore putting water in reserve.

The gravity head pressure allows the lower 3rd of the mountain to use this water with no pumps and increases production of snow when cold without additional peak demand electric usage.

Diesel (1999)

Replacement of grooming fleet to Pisten Bully brand saving approximately 30% of fuel due to increased fuel efficiency.

Lodging Housekeeping

Our towel and sheet program saves approximately 25,000 gallons of water a year by only washing the sheets and towels when requested by guests staying for more than one night. We have eliminated the use of toxic cleaning agents and now only use green, biodegradable solvents and cleaners.

Installation of Ozone Water Treatment System for Laundry Center

Allows water temperatures to be reduced from 90 to 60 degrees (saving fuel oil), cuts the amount of chemicals required by 66%. Water is therefore cleaner before it goes to the wastewater treatment plant where the balance of the chemicals is removed. Because more water is extracted from the fabrics during the wash cycle. This process also cuts down on dryer time thus reducing propane, electricity and labor.

Waterless Urinals (2006)

Conversion of bathrooms of several old building mens bathrooms. 100% installation of 7 urinals when JJ’s lodge was built in 2005. Saving 40,000 gallons of water per urinal. 12 total to date yields a 486,000 gallon reduction annually in water used.

Golden Eagle Award (2008)

Cogeneration (2012)

Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort is taking another step in its effort toward environmental responsibility with the installation of a new cogeneration unit in the Country Inn. The cogeneration unit uses propane gas that powers a turbine that in turn produces hot water for use throughout the Inn. This hot water also provides the heating source for the central core of the building that includes the year-round outdoor pool, hot tubs and John Harvard’s Restaurant & Brewery as well as the Front Desk facilities and conference rooms of the resort.

What makes cogeneration particularly popular is that a by-product of the turbines operation is the production of electricity – essentially two for the price of one. Jiminy Peak will use the electricity from the cogeneration unit in the Country Inn. The cogen unit will produce 400,000 kWh per year, thereby reducing the need for 400,000 kWh from the grid. Cogeneration systems are more environmentally friendly than traditional power plants and will result in the reduction of carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.